As usual, I am really happy to receive your reviews, so thank you very much :D

to Footster26 : I had already put the age of the characters on chapter 5 :) Anyway, thanks for reviewing my story since chapter 2, it means a lot to me :)

not that the other reviews are not appreciated though :D they all mean a lot to me and encourage me to keep writing.

to Rosiejade : unfortunately, "Found" is currently the only fanfic that I've been writing. But i planned to write another fics too, when the ideas come out though :p I'm really happy that you liked this fic . I'll make sure to list if if have a new fic :)

Well, here's chapter 8, enjoyy~

Lucy's POV

White lilies.

I stopped myself on nibbling my butter-coated toast. Fresh white lilies, encircled by a baby-blue vase. It was placed at the centre of the table where we were sitting on for breakfast. Their petals stared at my direction mockingly. The clink-clank sound of the table wares became slightly more distant as a flash of memory rushed through my head like a movie.

White. Pure white. Mom's favourite. I remembered her gentle smile when she received them along with my hand-made gift on her birthday every year. She would smell them and said they were beautiful. And Dad would say that Mom was far more beautiful than the flowers. It made my Mom giggled and I, to roll my eyes at the corny line. Dad would ruffle my hair playfully and laughed as I protested. Mom would place those flowers in that same clear baby-blue vase. And that day, we would go on a picnic at the meadow until the sun sets. Mom would bring the chocolate cupcakes that I was very fond of along with the birthday cake Dad had given to her. Mom and Dad would sit on the grass, hand in hand as they watched me chasing butterflies in the meadow. It was a simple memory. On one of those special days I had in ten years.

White lilies. They were once my favourite, but not anymore. They were put all over Mom's body on her funeral. They sprinkled the white petals all over her grave.

I hate white lilies. I hate them. They reminded me of that day I wished had never happened, that I wished I could forget.

"...cy. Lucy ?" I flinched at the mention of my name. My head throbbed as it was pounding through my skull.

"Y-yes, Miss Sarah ?" I stuttered, tried blinking my headache away.

"What's wrong? You looked pale. Or is it that you don't like the toast?" I looked at her concerned face. But something in her expression made me shivered. I reverted my gaze to my team mates. Natsu stopped munching his large breakfast as Happy paused on licking his tuna. Erza looked up from her strawberry shortcake and Gray stopped scooping on his ice cream. Looks of concern were evident on their faces. I gulped. I was not supposed to make them worry.

I shook my head and forced a smile, "No, Miss Sarah. The toast is nice," I kept my voice high and cheerful, "It's just that I'm a little tired. That's all."

The truth was I didn't even understand what had gone through my head before. Besides those nightmares about Mom, a memory flash was a first. It's like the memory had been dug up from the deepest corner of my mind.

"Ah," she said, " Rest assure, Lucy. Don't worry too much about your mission," for a second her voice sounded weirdly soothing.

"I won't," I said still wearing my fake smile. Her presence didn't help me to feel better at all. In fact, I felt a little sick. I know that's rude, but something in her just made me uncomfortable. Lucky that my team mates were here with me.

I took one last glance on the lilies and released a huff. I stopped my trembling hands. Calm down, Lucy. It's just a coincidence. They're just flowers.

Erza's POV

We were again, on the lively street of Aria. 2 hours after the pleasant breakfast we had with Miss Sarah. Note the sarcasm. I really can't stand being in one room together with that woman. She just simply made me unpleasant despite of the pleasant breakfast that I had.

That morning, we came down to the dining room as she invited us to breakfast, only to be welcomed by an empty table and that man, who I supposed is her butler who's called Sebastian. She insisted on letting us order for anything. So of course as she insisted, I hesitantly chose my favourite strawberry-based meal, and then pop! All the food that we requested just appeared in front of us. I thought that the butler was the one who did it as I felt magic emitting from his body. He must be a mage, but a food mage? I've never heard of that. But oh well, the strawberry milk was indeed pleasant. And don't mention the mouth-watering strawberry shortcake. I wonder if I could ever taste a cake with such delicacy, and sweetness that melted on my toungue. Oh, and the fresh strawberries, those watery strawberries. Stop it, Erza. You're rambling. I shook my head of my pleasant thoughts as I rummaged through the pocket of my blue skirt and pulled out the letter Miss Sarah had given us.

Find a box that sings

Buried in the City of Melody

It will seek its chosen seekers

Who can break its magic lock

Located where the arrow points

And where they shine the brightest

But be aware, as danger awaits

Emily.

No matter how many times I had read it. I could only make out the part of 'magic lock'. Magic lock is the other name of magic seal, though only a few mages actually use that term. Lucky for me, I had heard of it on one of my missions. So, we figured that we must undo the magic seal in any way it takes after we find it. The problem is where to find it beside the clue that it is buried in this city. I'm never into solving riddles, I sighed.

"Lucy, what do you think?" I asked the only helpful person I could got this time. Natsu and Happy were currently too engrossed with their culinary trip. And surprisingly for Gray, he really was into boxers. I saw him staring intently at a male undergarment store which made me shuddered a little. I was currently feeling too disgusted at the scenery that I just realized no response was coming from Lucy. I glanced at her. She had stopped walking and was standing beside me. Her chocolate orbs seemed distant and lost as she was gazing absentmindedly to the sky.

"Lucy?" I called out again.

No answer.

I began to worry. She had been acting a little weird since breakfast. And for the last 2 hours, I noticed she had been silent all the time. That's so not like her. Or I may say un-Lucy like. Even if I had only known her for 3 days, I had already felt attached to her somehow. She laughs at my cracked jokes and isn't scared of me like most people do. In short, I like her. She's sweet and nice, smart and cute I might add. And I don't want anything to happen to her.

"Lucy?" I called out with a louder voice. This time, even Natsu, Gray, and Happy turned to me, curious on the raise of my voice.

But Lucy remained silent. She really was lost in thought. I don't believe that she's just a little tired like she said this morning. There's definitely something bothering her.

This time I put my hand on her shoulder and said one last time, "Lucy?"

She jumped a little at the contact, "Huh? W-what? Who? Where?" She blurted frantically, "E-Erza?" She turned to me with wide eyes.

I would consider her reaction funny if I hadn't been worried. I could see that the Natsu, Gray, and Happy stifled their laughter as they tried to remain serious. I knew that they're as concerned as me about Lucy's weird behaviour.

"You okay, Lucy? You really seemed out of it."

She looked surprised at first, but quickly smiled reassuringly, "I'm fine, Erza. Don't worry," upon noticing my unconvinced glare, she added, "There're lots going on my mind. That's all."

I got the sign that she didn't want to talk about it. So I just nodded and said, "You can talk about it whenever you want."

She smiled, "Sure. Thanks."

"Don't frown like that, Luuucy. You're going to get wrinkles," Happy sneered.

"I'm not frowning!" Lucy deadpanned. I got what Happy was doing; he was trying to cheer Lucy up, even in his own weird ways.

"See! You're starting to act like an old lady!" he grinned even more, too innocently.

Lucy just simply pounded him on the head, leaving him sobbing at Natsu. Or most likely, pretended to sob, though I thought that the hit was indeed quite painful.

"Anyway, a box that sings...it might be a music box, I think," she said suddenly after a few seconds of silence, "But it could be anything. It can be a box that really sings. Almost anything is possible to be made as we are living in the world of magic."

I nodded, "Makes sense. What we must find out here is who or what 'they' are here. And what does the 'arrow' means. Then we can get the location."

"What things shine the brightest here?" Gray asked casually. It seemed he had done staring at the boxers.

Lucy beamed, "Stars?"

I chuckled at her, relieved that she had been lively again, "Might be."

"Lights?" Gray suggested.

"Fire does shine too!" Natsu shouted.

I rolled my eyes at his 'misplaced' vocabulary.

Lucy gazed at him in confusion, "Fire does not shine, Natsu. It burns."

Natsu crooked his eyebrows, "What do you mean, Luce? It shines. See?" In an instant flame flickered on his palm and he neared it in front of Lucy and unfortunately, right in front of her face.

"Eep! Natsu! Are you trying to burn me alive?" She stepped backwards abruptly.

"Natsu," I glared at him, "Watch your fire."

"Eep!" He moved backward and screamed like Lucy did, actually even more hysterical.

Gray snorted and Natsu as expected, glared at him. I was going to stop the fight that would definitely happen. Seriously, those two. Can they just get along? Lucy's sudden squeal caught our attention.

"Look! Look! A library!" She jumped and pointed at a building in the street corner with a wide smile on her face, "We can search for some information there!"

"Apparently, someone just wanted to visit the library," Gray snickered.

Lucy blushed a little, "Hey! I can't help it!"

"Reading is just plain boring, Luce. How can you like it?" Natsu asked nonchalantly. I rolled my eyes. I even had almost given up trying to teach him how to read and spell. And don't even get me to tell you about how he did his Mathematics. He kept insisting that 1 plus 2 equals 4 !

"You won't understand, Natsu," Lucy waved her arms at him playfully.

"Hey! I'm not that stupid!" He scowled.

"I didn't say that that you're stupid," Lucy said, amused," though you are," she added and stuck her tongue out. I actually must agree to that as I nodded slightly.

"Lucy! You are a meanie!" He pouted and chased after Lucy. The blond girl just giggled as she ran towards the library. Natsu caught her from behind, encircling his arms playfully on Lucy as Happy flew above them.

I followed them and chuckled at their antics, they looked just like close siblings who were teasing each other. I saw Gray twitched a little on seeing their closeness. He quickly shrugged it off with a slight confusion and tried to hide it with his stoic face. I smirked in amusement at his reaction. I'm not much of a matchmaker, but I'll be excited to see the progress between the two. Oh my, that demonic Mira has really rubbed on me. I rubbed my temples as I followed Lucy who had entered the library.

Lucy's POV

Whoa was all I could say. The library was just...whoa. But maybe it's just myself being overly amazed as I didn't even remember the last time I went to a library, except for the one at the mansion. It seemed it had been a long time that I did almost anything, I sighed. The two-storey building was painted it yellow. It has a big sign board that read 'Arion Library'. The building looked somewhat old.

I pushed through its white door as a welcome bell rang above it. I saw a raven haired braided young woman with thick glasses scribbling something on her desk, who seemed not to notice my arrival. Another rings of bell marked the arrival of my team mates. At this sound, the woman jerked her head up with wide eyes.

"Hello, may I help you?" She smiled a bit shyly. She was wearing typical librarian attire. A blue blouse and with flowery matching skirt.

We smiled back at her and Erza moved forward.

"Yes, Miss. Do you have any books about this city?"

She put her fingers on her chin in a thinking posture, then asked us to follow her inside.

The library wasn't dusty despite its old architecture. Tall shelves of thick and thin books with various covers lined along the room and in the corner was wooden stairs heading to the second floor. We followed her to shelf with rather old looking books.

"Well, you can find anything about Aria City here. The map of this city, cultures, nice places to be visited, its history, food..." Natsu's eyes sparkled at this word, "Anything," she pointed her finger to a section that said 'Aria' and smiled warmly at us. She seemed to like her hometown a lot as her eyes twinkled when she was explaining.

"Thank you Miss..."

"Ayla. I mean...just call me Ayla. Everyone calls me that." She blushed when I smiled at her.

"W-well, if you need anything. I'm on my desk, okay?" She added before heading to her desk.

"Thank you again, Ayla !" I said in excitement, almost yelling. She turned her head and put a finger on her mouth and smiled. Oops. I forgot that I'm not supposed to talk that loud in a library. I put my hand to close my mouth nervously. She giggled softly and went back to the front.

We scattered along the shelf, searching for a book that may contains a clue to our mission. I observed each book cover. They were thick and old-looking, their colours had faded a few shades. My gaze stopped at a particular book that caught my interest. I tiptoed to pull out the book carefully from the shelves. I blew the dust on the cover, revealing golden bold letters that read "Myths of Aria". I opened the book and the smell of typical old book began itching my nose, in a nice way of course. I smiled contently and flipped through the almost-yellowish pages. My bookworm instinct started to browse on the pages until I stopped flipping. There lied a unique yet mysterious looking picture that resembled a magic circle drawn with gold yellow ink. I observed the circle and noticed that it also kind of resembled an astrological cycle as I noticed the symbols of each horoscope on it. I gazed along the patterns, each connected with diagonals and formed a familiar shape.

"Astrum..." I whispered unconsciously, my eyes widened when the picture started to glow. A strong rush of magic tingled through my body. The sensation felt so familiar, so gentle as it touched me. The last thing I heard was someone yelling my name, before everything went black.

done :)

I hope you like this chapter, please review and tell me what you think.

Anyway, astrum means star in latin :p

~snowdrop03